Personal Finance for Military, Veterans, and their Families
The 2019 military pay charts go into effect on January 1, 2019. You will see the corresponding income in your first paycheck, which should arrive on January 15, 2019. Military members will receive a 2.6% annual cost of living adjustment. While this doesn’t sound like a huge raise, it is actually the largest military pay raise […]
The 2019 Cost of Living Adjustment for VA disability compensation of 2.8% is the largest COLA increase since 2012. This rate increase followed rate increase of 2.0% in 2018, 0.3% in 2017, and no rate increase in 2016. The following article explains VA Service Connected Disability Ratings, how VA disability compensation works and shows the 2018 […]
The 2018 military pay charts go into effect on January 1, 2018. You will see the corresponding income in your first paycheck. Military members will receive a 2.4% annual cost of living adjustment. These military pay charts apply to all branches of the military, including Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, Navy, and the Reserve […]
Separation from dependents is an unfortunate aspect of the military lifestyle. Fortunately, if your dependents cannot live at or near your permanent duty station, you may be entitled to Family Separation Allowance (FSA). You can qualify for FSA payments whether inside or outside the United States. FSA payments don’t make up for separation from loved ones. […]
Divorce is an emotionally and financially trying time for anyone, civilians and military members alike. However, if you are a military couple going through a divorce, there are laws and factors unique to a military divorce that can affect how you split your assets, including your pay and eventually, your retirement pay. If you are […]
As we wrote in our military pay date schedule, the first step in creating a budget is knowing how much you will be paid, and when. The good news is that retired military pay dates are easy to remember: you usually receive your pay on the first of the month. The only exception is when […]
The Air Force recently published the 2015 Guard & Reserve Handbook. While this is targeted at the Air Force, there is a ton of great information for anyone serving in either the Guard or Reserves. I’ll dive in and share a few things you can learn from this resource, including information on pay, benefits, and […]
Members of the Guard or Reserves are eligible to serve if they have a VA service-connected disability, provided they are physically cleared. However, there is one big caveat: they are not able to receive VA compensation on the same day they receive military pay. To serve again, you will be required to waive either your […]
No system is perfect. Especially complex systems managing hundreds of thousands of unique inputs and outputs on a biweekly basis. Inputs and outputs that frequently change based on dozens of different factors that can change at a moment’s notice. Of course, the system I’m referring to is the military pay system. I’m sure you guessed […]
One of the first steps in creating a budget is knowing how much money you have coming in, and when. That’s why it’s important to know when you get paid. In general, military pay dates are easy to remember: you usually get paid on the 1st and 15th of each month. Note: Retired military members […]